JIN-SAN ZHANG

biography

Dr. Jin-San Zhang obtained both his M.D. and Ph.D at Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences (Now Norman Bethune College of Medicine, Jilin University) in Changchun, China. He then joined the National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Oncology, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) and Chinese Academy of Medical Science (CAMS), Beijing on a National Postdoctoral fellowship, where he later became a faculty member at their Postgraduate School in 1995. He was an Associate Professor at National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, PUMC/CAMS, when he joined Mayo Clinic in 1997. Dr. Zhang became a faculty at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology with an Assistant Professorship in Medicine in 2002. He became the Principle Research Scientist at the Division of Oncology Research, Schulze Center for Novel Therapeutics in 2008, and has been spearheading the pancreatic cancer research program supported by Mayo Pancreatic cancer SPORE with Dr. Daniel Billadeau. He has been interested in basic cancer biology as well as translational research particularly on pancreatic cancer. Dr. Zhang’s expertise covers cancer cell signaling, epigenetic regulation, cancer stem cells and discovery of therapeutic targets.

Area of Interest

• Stem cell factors and epigenetic reprogramming during early carcinogenesis with a focus on pancreas and lung • Signaling network of EGFR(mutant) and FGFR family members in pancreatic as well as lung cancer • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK3) signaling and regulation of inflammatory factors in pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer • Hippo signaling mechanism in regulation and maintenance of pancreatic cancer cell stemness.